Today is ‘Leap Day’ 2016. Do You Know Why We Have an Extra Day Every 4 Years?

Today is "Leap Day", February 29th. It happens every 4 years. Do you know why? Here's all you need to know about Leap Day!

Every 4 years is a leap year, which means we add an additional day to the calendar. It's not just for fun, there really is a reason it's done. The calendar we use is the Gregorian calendar, which is a 365 day year. The earth's complete orbit around the sun takes exactly 365.2422 days, and is why we have that many days in the year. Our calendar is slightly short though, so every 4 years an extra day is added to keep our years on track. If we didn't do that then eventually we'd have winter in June at some point.

What other things are interesting about "Leap Day"?

According to The Telegraph, there's a few other things specifically dedicated to Leap Day, that don't happen on any other day of the year.

Women propose to men on Leap Day. In the 5th century, an Irish nun complained to Ireland's St. Patrick that men were taking too long to propose to women. So St. Patrick allowed women to propose to men every 4 years on Leap Day.

You have a 1 in 1,461 chance of having been born on Leap Day. Many restaurants and bars offer a special for "Leaplings", the given name for those celebrating a birthday on February 29th. Places like Buca di Beppo, Pizza Hut and Hard Rock cafe around Minnesota offer different deals. See them specifically here.

Salaried employees work for free on Leap Day. This has been a long standing argument for employees and managers. Generally your pay isn't increased, but you have to work an extra day. There's actually a petition in place that's trying to make Leap Day an official bank holiday, giving workers a paid day off like other normal holidays.

So are YOU a Leap Day baby (or Leaper/Leapling)? How do you celebrate your birthday each year?